Easy Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Recipe
Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
I’m please to report that our cooking pumpkins are ready for harvesting. This has inspired me to experiment with different recipes that use pumpkin as a main ingredient. So far, I have tried a Coconut Curry Pumpkin dish, it was more like a soup served over rice. It was tasty as it combined both our pumpkins and Andy’s hot peppers. The verdict on that experiment was I needed to use peppers. The Easy Creamy Pumpkin Pasta recipe is my latest experiment. The verdict is still out on this one as I think there is still opportunity to tinker with the flavor and texture, perhaps adding a protein or punching up the spices.
Ingredients
1 cup pure canned pumpkin puree or fresh pureed pumpkin for your garden (not sweetened pumpkin pie filling)
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 small onion (finely diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream, milk, or full-fat coconut milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg (key spice for savory pumpkin flavor)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper to taste
8 oz of your favorite pasta (like rigatoni or penne – I used chickpea shells for mine and regular bowtie pasta for Andy’s dish. I would not recommend the Chickpea pasta for this dish.)
Instructions
Begin by cooking the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining.
Next Sauté the onions for two to three minutes until translucent in butter or olive oil. Add garlic and continue cooking for an additional 30 seconds. Here is where I think additional herbs could be added, but I’ve yet to determine what kind. You could also add the nutmeg at this point, which is what I did, although it also says to add it later when you add the pumpkin and cream. After the garlic, pour in the vegetable or chicken broth (I used Chicken broth) and let simmer for two minutes. Whisk in pumpkin and cream or coconut milk and ground nutmeg; simmer for three to five more minutes until warm and smooth. Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and toss with the cooked pasta directly into the sauce. If sauce is too thick add a splash of pasta water to reach your desired consistency.
Add more parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh basil.
Bon Appetit!
